REUTERS

Mar 17, 2014

, Last Updated: 5:05 PM ET

OTTAWA - Canada will impose further sanctions on Russian and Crimean officials as the result of "the illegal, dangerous and unilateral actions of the Putin regime in Crimea over the weekend," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.

"Today, once again, the government will be announcing and is announcing more economic sanctions and travel restrictions on various senior people in Russia and Ukraine, in Crimea specifically," he told reporters as he met Ukraine's ambassador ahead of Harper's planned visit to Kiev on March 22.

"It's my strong belief that we must keep the pressure on and we must continue to maintain sanctions and maintain putting in place strong steps to dissuade this behavior. What the Putin regime has done cannot be tolerated and can never be accepted."